IFM Opens Office in Berlin, Eyes European Opportunities

Australia’s Industry Funds Management, which is owned by 30 local pension funds, has opened an office in Berlin to keep a closer eye on European opportunities.

“Europe is a core growth market for IFM as a global investment manager,” said IFM Chief Executive Brett Himbury, who oversees the management of more than 46 billion Australian dollars (US$42.4 billion).

IFM chief executive Brett Himbury

News Limited

“Our Berlin office is reflective of our commitment to the market, and being on the ground locally will help build our presence in the region and maintain strong, long term relationships.”

IFM’s Berlin office will be led by Executive Director Lars Bespolka who joined IFM in 2008 after an investment banking career covering energy and utilities for Credit Suisse AG. Mr. Bespolka was head of the Swiss bank’s Asia Pacific power and project finance group.

In Germany, IFM owns a stake in 50Hertz, one of four national electricity transmission system operators, which supplies power to over 18 million people.

“We see strong potential for investment opportunities in Germany and neighboring countries over the next few years, including regulated gas and electricity transmission and distribution businesses, as well as transport, gas storage and other infrastructure sectors,” Mr. Bespolka said. He added that German investors are displaying an increased interest in the group’s US$7.1 billion global infrastructure fund.

The move follows IFM’s appointment of former BP Europe Executive Chairman Uwe Frank as a senior advisor to its global infrastructure fund and marks the group’s expansion into continental Europe. IFM opened its London office in 2006, from where it has led investments including taking a 35.5% stake in Manchester Airports Group in February. It has also acquired London’s Stansted Airport for 1.5 billion British pounds (US$2.3 billion).

It also follows decisions by smaller peers like infrastructure investor Access Capital Advisers, who closed their New York office earlier this year to focus on European investments.

Global investors like Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing are scouring the region for investments, despite weakness in the euro zone’s economy. Mr. Li’s Hutchison Whampoasaid Monday it would buy Telefónica SA’s O2 Ireland unit for €850 million (US$1.1 billion), the second European acquisition in a week for Hong Kong’s richest man. A consortium of Mr. Li’s companies said June 17 it bought a waste-management business in the Netherlands.